3-5 Teacher
Values and Beliefs
We Value…
● Community
● Our Natural World
● Inclusivity & Equity
● The Whole Child
● Perseverance
● High Academic Expectations
Mission
Austin Discovery School is an academically rigorous public charter school dedicated to building
compassion, collaboration, and critical thinking by engaging students with the natural world.
Vision
Austin Discovery School is a tuition-free, innovative charter school serving children in grades K-8.
A small, community-oriented school, ADS offers naturally lit, beautiful classrooms with a low
student-teacher ratio. Classrooms are full of movement and social interactions as learners work
cooperatively and share their knowledge with one another. ADS features hands-on math and science and integrates literacy across the curriculum. All students attend an Essentials Class daily, which may include Eco-Wellness, Physical Education, Music, Art, Library, and/or Theater. Students in our program master the skills necessary to demonstrate social responsibility, good health,
and environmental responsibility while creating and pursuing rigorous academic goals. There is a natural harmony when we come to appreciate and respect others, ourselves, and the environment we live in. By focusing on the whole child, ADS benefits our whole society.
Success Profile
Core responsibilities:
1. Provide high-quality instruction, collaborate effectively with other educators, and create a safe,
caring learning environment for all students.
Co-teaching:
- Collaborate with co-teacher to create a cohesive classroom community and implement a co-teaching model of instruction.
- Knowledge and flexible use of co-teaching models.
- Monitor the pulse of your co-teaching relationship and foster an equitable, professional, and productive relationship through crucial conversations.
Lesson Planning and Implementation:
- Construct and implement lesson plans that reflect understanding of state expectations, the ADS philosophy, and the learning styles, needs, and interests of students.
- Knowledge of state standards and differentiation strategies useful in supporting individual student strengths and needs.
- Engage in reflection about lessons based on student performance, observational data, and careful thought.
Small Group Instruction:
- Create a safe environment where students feel safe to take risks.
- Prepare resources, curriculum, and materials needed for each small group’s instruction.
- Have consistent routines and structures that perpetuate high expectations.
Assess, Differentiate, and Document
- Create, use, and document quantitative and qualitative assessment measures to monitor student progress.
- Assess, monitor, and document the progress of your students with fidelity.
- Reflect and adjust lessons and trajectory according to data obtained through assessments and student performance.
2. Use knowledge of conscious discipline and restorative practices to foster relationships with
students and families.
Conscious Discipline:
- Design logical consequences that have students make connections to the behavior.
- Build preventative routines and systems that allow children to problem solve and have control of their outcomes.
- Always assume positive intent and create spaces to reflectively discuss choices made by the student.
Restorative Practices:
- Resolve conflict and hold individuals and groups accountable through mediation.
- Create safe spaces to allow students to control impulses and reflect when the student is ready.
- Create plans that help students follow through with agreed-upon terms.
Key Qualifications:
Education / Certification / Experience:
● Bachelor’s Degree in education or related field
● Valid Texas teaching certificate appropriate to grade level
● Experience in student teaching, internship, observation, and / or field work as required by
universities or state-approved programs for certification
Skills:
● Builds relationships with kids and families
● Good communication skills with families, students and teachers
● Strong documentation skills
● Writes and implements lesson plans that fulfill ADS’s curriculum requirements according to
school deadlines
● Strong collaboration skills
Personal Characteristics:
● Team player
● Flexible
● Intrinsically motivated to complete assigned job duties
● Willing to do what is best for kids
● Calm under pressure
● Reflective and willing to learn